


Missy's Illustrious Retail Career

by paperlessprinter



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Episode: s06e12 Closing Time, Episode: s07e07 The Bells of Saint John, Gen, Missing Scene, Not Beta Read
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-25
Updated: 2016-01-13
Packaged: 2018-04-28 00:06:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5070187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paperlessprinter/pseuds/paperlessprinter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Missy recovers from their regeneration and rebuilds as usual. This time around they get a job at the same store the Doctor worked at in "Closing Time." Then they start scheming. Once the Master, always the Master.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some tagged characters don't show up this chapter.

When Missy got their life back together, the only thing they had left was the phone number to the Doctor’s TARDIS. 

They had rebuilt before. They would rebuild again. But some regenerations were harder than others. The Doctor always seemed able to pick right where he left off. But other than a general idea of causing as much disruption and destruction as possible and going after The Doctor sometimes they really were working from a blank slate. 

So they parked their TARDIS in an alley in downtown London to figure out the long game. They were thankful that they even had one, otherwise they’d be stranded. They couldn’t quite remember how they managed to get one, for all they knew a future incarnation left it. The desktop theme was an eclectic mix of themes they’d seen the Doctor use, a violent clash of coral and roundels and bookcases.

Plus it reminded them of the Doctor. No way they'd change it. 

Once they got their regeneration under control, they looked for some sort of mischief and mayhem to cause. But not just run of the mill generic mayhem that any of the Doctor’s villains could cause, but a unique brand that would be unmistakably theirs. If that meant a very convoluted long game, then so be it. 

Missy decided to search for the Doctor. It was one of their favorite pastimes to look him up and see what he was up to. They hadn’t been paying attention to his eleventh incarnation much since they were stuck behind the Gallifreyan Time Lock. Last time they sacrifice themself for him! But it was the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor who actually managed to save Gallifrey, allowing their escape. They found an interesting tidbit in his timeline. Before he went off to save their home planet, he got a job at a department store. A human department store!

They laughed out loud, but it gave them an idea. They'd do the same, just for kicks. As far as Missy knew, they hadn’t really interacted with anyone in this regeneration. They could only remember this TARDIS. It was time to stretch their legs finally. Who knows what they would find? 

It was only a matter of time before they had fabricated a resume, and application. Missy walked through the wardrobe and found a dress that was inconspicuously Victorian, but still professional enough for a job interview. Unlike other regenerations where it was such a struggle to find the perfect outfit, this one knew exactly what it wanted and was practically screaming for Victorian dresses. Oh Missy would have fun with this one. 

Before leaving for the store, they made sure to grab one more thing. Missy totally stole the idea of the psychic paper from the Doctor’s Ninth incarnation. Before they’d just hypnotise everyone to do their will. The paper didn’t have the same flair but they found it more energy efficient especially for their long games. They'd never admit this to the Doctor, but maintaining a hypnosis for several people at the same time for any long duration was taxing. 

Outside was boring old London. Not much had changed since they had ruled the roost as Saxon. Course the Doctor had made sure nearly everyone had forgotten who Harold Saxon was, which was a shame. He never wanted to admit he even had power, while they loved to flaunt it. Clearly, the two Time Lords were made for each other.

Missy wandered into the department store. They walked through the fragrance section, throwing a death glare to the poor beautician who dared to approach. It didn’t take long to hunt down a manager. 

“How can I help you?” they said. 

They remembered to smile. “I was wondering if you were accepting applications? I’d love to work here.” They even battered their eyelashes for good measure. Previous regenerations were charmers, they were just using their particular gender to further their cause. The sad thing about humans was that Missy hadn’t even used their hypnotic powers or psychic paper but they could tell the manager was right where they needed them. 

He looked at them once. “We’ve been doing applications online so we’ve stopped accepting resumes in person.” He quickly looked around before returning to Missy. “But I’ll make an exception for you. Just this once.” 

They ended up in a cramped manager's office behind the shoe section. Various bits of inventory were scattered about, and the manager had to clear off a chair so Missy could sit. The dress made it a tight squeeze. They remembered to keep their scowl and displeasure off their face. At least until they got the job. 

In the end they didn’t even need to hypnotize the manager. They showed him the psychic paper and name-dropped the Doctor as a reference. Before they had left the TARDIS, they tracked down the employees at the store during the time of the Doctor’s employment and made sure to talk to a manager who was still there. Seemed wherever the Doctor went he was well liked, so it was high time Missy used that to their advantage. 

“Oh yes, The Doctor was a model employee. I don’t think his time with us was very long, but he was well liked by the staff and customers. I’m sure if he’s willing to be one of your references, you’ll be a fantastic employee as well.” The manager stood and shook Missy’s hand. “Congratulations, when you can start?”

Missy was taken aback by the sudden human contact but stood as well. “Thank you so much! How about next week?” Regardless of the actual start date, they would just jump in the TARDIS and travel to the day. They didn’t like any unnecessary waiting.  
“Great! I’m sure we can get a quick training session for you next Wednesday. We open at 10:00, so be here at 9 am. The employee entrance is around the back. I’ll give your name to security. Speaking of names, what do you want your name tag to say?”

Missy flashed the biggest smile so far. “The Master.”


	2. Chapter 2

Missy liked to think they were a better employee than the Doctor was. They certainly lasted longer than he ever did. They were also cheating. After every shift, they would walk out the employee entrance and into their TARDIS. Instead of going to sleep or socializing with coworkers, they would just travel to the beginning of their next shift. Whenever possible they would always take the easy way out.

On the few days off they had, Missy would read up on what the Doctor had been doing. If they counted his regenerations correctly, he was on his last one, Granted they were never good at keeping track of regenerations, burning through her original set much quicker than the Doctor. They’d already gotten a new set from the Time Lords, at least twice. They weren't sure how this current set would go considering it was a Wartime gift, and instead of fighting for them, they took a page from the Doctor's book and ran to the end of the universe and hid their Time Lord self in a watch. Being a human was fun at first, but they’d never want to do it again. 

When they first regenerated, they were worried The Doctor would track them down right away, but after a few days waiting, he never showed up. The last time they ran into each other, they chased Rassilon back into the Time Lock. Then it turned out after he’d ‘saved’ Gallifrey, he was too busy defending Trenzalore to really look them up. He would have died there if not for the Time Lords. Oh so that’s how he got around the regeneration limit! The Time Lords managed to step in, even from their bubble universe. For a race that swore by noninterference, they certainly did interfere a lot. 

By her actions on Trenzalore, Clara Oswin Oswald had vaulted herself into a position of someone Missy should keep an eye on. They needed to make sure Clara met the Doctor and would travel with him. It just so happened that she was living with a family nearby. It was a safe assumption that Clara would come shopping at some point, and would probably bring the children she was in charge of. 

Missy made sure they had the Doctor’s phone number at all times. Their scheme was starting to take shape, even if it would take a couple years at least to come to fruition. But the great thing about time travel was they didn’t have to live through every day, one after another. Once they got the ball running, they would take the easy way out and jump ahead in the TARDIS to check how their plan was developing. 

For now, they were on the lookout for Clara Oswald at work. They even had the manager switch them to the electronics department which was far busier than lingerie. 

Finally a few months after they started working, Missy’s patience paid off. It was a Saturday afternoon halfway into their shift in electronics when they spotted Clara Oswald with two children in tow. They stopped at the edge of Missy’s section. The boy was free to wander for ten minutes, as long as he stayed in the electronics section, within sight of Clara. His sister, on the other hand, wasn’t interested in anything besides her phone, which was glued to her hand. She and Clara drifted over to the counter. Missy put on their best retail smile and greeted them. 

“Can I help you with anything today?”

“No thanks, just browsing for now.” Clara replied. The girl didn’t look up from her phone, only hovered near Clara and moved whenever she did. 

Missy took a deep breath to let out their frustration slowly and got back to the cash register. They fiddled with their brooch as they kept an eye on Clara. For a Saturday afternoon, electronics was uncharacteristically slow. Clara and her two charges were the only ones in Missy’s section. 

The boy had found one of the video game demos. Nine minutes later Clara came by to collect him. They walked back by Missy’s counter. The Time Lord willed Clara to stop.

“Actually,” Clara said as she turned around, “my computer’s been on the fritz for a week. I bought it here a couple years ago. Do you have the tech support phone number?”

“Here’s a Computer helpline, love.”.Missy slipped a piece of receipt paper into Clara's hand. “Best helpline in the universe.” They grinned. 

“Great, thanks!” Clara grabbed Missy’s note and stuck it in her pocket with her phone. She made sure the boy and the girl were with her before heading out. 

For the rest of their shift, Missy had a secret smile. The long game was starting. At the end of the day, they headed straight for her TARDIS. As part of their plan, they had plotted Clara’s timeline into the computer to see how it would pan out. By giving the the Doctor’s phone number to Clara, Missy had put things in motion. They resisted the temptation of jumping ahead in time right away. Instead, they showed up for work the next morning and gave their manager their two weeks notice. They had some time to kill and might as well finish their retail career the proper way.


End file.
